27. Diego
Chapter Twenty-Seven
DIEGO
“What do you mean?” Harley pressed, resting a hand on her hip as she cast a skeptical look in Daphne’s direction.
Daphne was busy cooking, which she was almost always doing. She seemed to fall into the same kind of zen place I experienced when I was flying whenever she was cooking. For that, I was deeply grateful because her love of cooking benefited my life and that of everyone I cared about immensely.
I waited to hear her response. Unlike my sister, when I was skeptical of a situation, I held back and tried to let things play out. That was really the only way to know the truth.
Daphne turned the burner off under a pan, carefully using the spatula to scoop out the sautéed chicken and place it in a bowl. She glanced over at Harley when she was done, setting the spatula down before looking between us. “It’s Gemma’s story to tell, and it’s personal. I understand why you want to know, especially given that the attorney left you a message. But it’s private. I can assure you Gemma has done nothing nefarious. I suggest you ask her yourself.”
Harley let out a huff. “Seriously? You went to talk to her and now you’re not going to fill us in.”
I felt protective of Gemma, even though doubts were crowding my mind. “Harley, give it a rest. If it’s personal, like Daphne said, it’s Gemma’s story to tell.”
Harley narrowed her eyes and looked back at Daphne. “Did Gemma ask you not to tell anyone?”
Daphne rolled her eyes, turning and crossing over to fetch something out of the pantry before returning to the counter. “Not specifically, but it feels like gossip for me to talk about it, and I’m not comfortable with it,” Daphne said firmly.
Daphne might not be outwardly as pushy as my sister, but it was obvious she wasn’t backing down. Harley tried a few more times to pressure her to no avail.
“Enough. I’ll be talking to Gemma tonight because I’m going to her yoga class in town. I’ll ask her to give you a call since apparently you can’t be bothered to do so yourself,” Daphne offered pointedly.
Harley looked at me as if she thought somehow I was going to try to badger Daphne into changing her mind. I shook my head and turned away. I had some laundry to do, which was definitely preferable to getting stuck in the middle of this conversation.
I walked back through the trees to the staff house, relieved to find it empty. For the most part in the summer, there were rarely any of us here at the same time unless it was evening or early morning. We had too many flights rotating in and out to spend much time at home. It was pure chance I had the morning off. The plane I was supposed to be flying today had a minor mechanical issue. Flynn had messaged me about an hour ago to say he’d figured out the issue and the plane would be ready by early afternoon. Until then, I had time on my hands, something I didn’t particularly want.
Ever since that strange message Harley received, I felt as if everything had stuttered inside me around Gemma. I couldn’t think clearly, and my thoughts were fuzzed with too much emotion and reaction. Striding into my room, I gathered up my laundry and started the washer, promptly realizing that doing the laundry involved a lot of hurry up and wait. This task wasn’t going to keep me occupied.
Plunking down on the couch, I decided to peruse the daytime television offerings. Only minutes into that, I was annoyed. My cell phone vibrated from where it sat on the coffee table and I reached for it, answering reflexively without checking the screen to see who was calling.
“Hello?”
“Hello, I’m looking for a Diego Jackson,” a man’s voice said smoothly.
For a second, I was confused about why I recognized the voice but then I realized this was the voice from Harley’s voicemail. Confusion and irritation prickled down my spine, but I decided to roll with it.
“Yes?” I replied
“Is this Mr. Jackson?” the man prompted.
“It is.”
“Excellent. I’m calling because I understand you’re familiar with a Gemma Marlon.”
“Mmm,” I replied noncommittally.
“It may seem strange that I’m calling out of the blue. However, I am part of a legal firm in Portland, and Miss Marlon is listed as a witness in an upcoming legal trial. We’ve had difficulty reaching her, so we’re trying to track down people she knows.”
“Look, if I knew Gemma, why the hell would I help you? These days that’s plain stupid.”
“You must understand, she’s a witness in a high-profile criminal case involving a famous college coach. We’d like to make sure she’s aware of the potential questions should she choose to testify against our client.”
“What’s this trial about?” I asked, genuinely curious, but also just trying to keep the guy on the phone for a few more minutes.
“You may have heard about it in the news. Our client has been accused of multiple allegations of sexual impropriety with students during his work as a coach. Coaching is his life and his entire career. While we thoroughly respect the efforts to raise the profile of how victims are not served well by the legal system, that doesn’t mean everyone accused is guilty. Our country has a legal system and principles for a reason.”
My gut churned. I hated stuff like this—when powerful people and those who had enough money could make it difficult for everyone. Although this has absolutely nothing to do with the minor embezzlement case related to my parents, I remembered clearly how much money they had to spend on lawyers to get it addressed legally.
I wasn’t about to help this man. “You called the wrong guy. There’s no fucking way I’ll help you.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it on the coffee table, letting out an annoyed sigh. I’d been itching to talk to Gemma. I was going to make it happen and find out just what the hell was going on.
I forced myself to wait until I could switch my laundry over to the dryer before leaving. I could’ve asked Harley to deal with it, but that required a conversation with her, and she was in a pushy mood.
* * *
“Now, lift your arms, hold your palms flat together, and bend at the waist, coming forward to relax and hang down toward the floor. Please let your knees bend slightly so your lower back can relax. Only straighten your legs if the backs of your thighs are loose enough to do so comfortably.”
Gemma’s voice rolled over me, soothing and melodic. I followed her instructions, along with the rest of the class, breathing deeply as the tension slowly eased along my spine. When I had checked her class schedule with Daphne and discovered she had a short lunch class, I might’ve broken a speed record to get into town on time. I had a flight scheduled only an hour away, but I wanted to at least try to talk to Gemma before I left.
We’d done some schedule scrambling with my plane out of commission this morning, so now I was booked for a trip for a group going to Katmai National Park and would be gone for several days.
Gemma brought us through several more poses toward the end of class, and we finished lying flat on our backs with our palms turned upward. Soothing music played as the class slowly filtered apart. Some people hurried out, while I waited.
Gemma seemed tense. Her shoulders were held in a rigid line, and the corners of her eyes were pinched slightly. Her usual easy smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was chatting with an elderly woman, so I took that moment to grab a bathroom break. When I returned, she was putting away some yoga mats and the music had been turned off. A quick scan around, and I deduced we were finally alone.
Approaching her, I stopped a few feet away. “Gemma.”
Her head whipped in my direction quickly, her eyes widening slightly. “Hi, Diego. Good to have you in class.” Her tone was polite and crisp.
“Look I was hoping we could talk for a few minutes,” I said.
I really didn’t want to have this conversation. I wanted there to be no confusing mystery about why an attorney was calling people Gemma knew. My gut told me there was a reason they had targeted Harley and me. If only because we were new enough in Gemma’s world that we might be susceptible to revealing information about Gemma without her knowledge.
Gemma’s eyes searched my face, her gaze guarded. “Sure, what is it?”
“You heard about the message that attorney left Harley?”
She nodded. “Daphne spoke to me about it. Please let Harley know I’m sorry. Obviously, I had nothing to do with that. Well, I have something to do with the situation, but not having some random attorney call people I don’t know that well.”
“You know me well,” I heard myself saying.
She regarded me quietly. “I think so,” she said, her words hesitant.
“Tell me what happened.”
Her lips pressed in a thin line, and she looked away. She pointlessly straightened a few of the rolled up yoga mats on the shelf. “It’s a long story, and not really the kind of story I want to tell a guy who I’m still getting to know.”
When she looked back toward me, her gaze was steady. She lifted her chin slightly and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’m guessing Harley’s a little freaked out about that message.”
I shrugged. “It was out of the blue for her, and she didn’t really understand it, but I don’t think she’s freaking out. Daphne told us it was personal.”
Gemma looked torn, her lips twisting to the side. “I didn’t ask her to keep anything secret.”
“She said that you didn’t, but she felt it was your story to tell. Tell me. I suppose I should let you know that same attorney called me today.”
Her eyes flew wide, her breath hissing with a surprised inhalation. “What? What did he want?”
“He said something about making sure that you understood it was a serious matter and that they were having trouble getting a hold of you. My gut tells me he’s an asshole.”
Her arms tightened, and she curled her hands around the sides of her waist and turned away from me. When she looked back in my direction, she looked weary and sad. “I used to play competitive softball in high school. We were a championship team.” Her tone was thoughtful, almost detached. “It all blew up when our coach kissed me and tried to take things a little further. Don’t worry, he didn’t rape me,” she added hurriedly.
Anger bolted through me hard and fast, but I gritted my teeth and stayed silent.
“It wasn’t just me. I wasn’t special. Not that I felt special. I didn’t want to feel special, and I didn’t want him to ever look at me again. It happened to some of my teammates who were my friends. They investigated, but then nothing. The school did their own investigation,” she said with air quotes around investigation. “I moved on with my life and actually injured my back at the start of the following season. We were all pretending like it was no big deal. I guess we thought that’s what we were supposed to do since the investigation went nowhere. Fast forward, and he went on to be a championship winning coach for more than one college and now he’s finally facing criminal charges. I wasn’t sure if I was going to testify, but now I am. My brother thinks he’s trying to search out people close to me to scare me out of testifying.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I finally burst out.
Gemma turned to me, her gaze unsettlingly calm. “Of course not. You just told me he called you too. I have a message in to my brother. He’s an attorney. I’m hoping he can tell the coach’s attorneys to back the fuck off and leave me alone. Because I will be testifying.”
She fell completely silent for a moment. The thud of my heartbeat echoed in my ears. With her arms still tightly wrapped around her waist, she turned away and walked to the windows at the front of the room. I followed her over, as if she had a string attached to me.
“So, that’s a fun thing to learn about the girl you only had two dinners with,” she said, her words sharp like pieces of glass.
“Gemma, I know life’s not all fun. I’m really, really sorry you went through that.”
My words felt pathetically inadequate.
She finally let her arms drop free, lifting one hand to rub at the back of her neck before spinning away. “It’s life. We all have shit we go through. I actually need to get going.”
She hurried into a small room off the main room, returning with her purse and slipping into a lightweight jacket as she stuffed her feet into a pair of tennis shoes. I didn’t know why, but it felt as if she were slipping away from me.
“Gemma,” I began
She shook her head. “You can’t fix this, Diego. Please let Harley know I’m sorry that attorney called her. I have no idea how they got your number or hers. I’ll let you know what my brother says.”
She moved so fast she was already at the front door before I caught up to her. “When can I see you again?” I asked.
Her eyes lifted to mine, but they were shuttered, closed off to me. “I’m sure I’ll see you when I come out for a yoga class at the resort. I’ll be there tomorrow night.”
“I’m leaving for a three-day trip over in Katmai, so I won’t see you there.”
“Then, next week,” she said brightly, her smile almost brittle.
She was already stepping through the door, holding it for me. I waited while she locked up behind us. “How about this weekend?” I pressed. “I’ll be back by then.”
“I’m busy,” she said tightly. “Go on your trip, and I’ll see you next week at the resort.”
She didn’t give me a chance to debate further, lifting her hand in a wave and almost running to her car.
I stood where I was, watching as she drove away and wondering just how I’d gotten this so wrong.